Catena-X Portal & Marketplace

Catena-X enables secure, interoperable and standardized data exchange. Key contributors to this are the Portal and the various Marketplaces. Within our network, these interfaces enable users and providers in terms of

  • Registration in the Portal
  • Technical enablement for participation in the network
  • User-guided publication of applications and services on the Marketplaces
  • Marketplace for business applications from certified providers in the Catena-X network
  • Marketplace for data space enabling services from certified providers in the Catena-X network
  • Etc.

With the help of these basic functions the participation of small, medium and large enterprises within the Catena-X network is equally supported. For this purpose, Catena-X provides the portal and the marketplaces as a reference implementation in an open-source environment for the various operating companies. Based on this, the operators are enabled to place a fast market solution.

Exemplary preview from the pre-competitive development environment:

The Portal - the joint entry into our network

In Catena-X we share the vision of transparent and continuous data chains along the automotive value chain. Provided for all participants of the network, they solve the daily challenges of the industry quickly and easily. The access to our network is provided via the Catena-X Portal.

The entry point to all functionalities of the data network is identical for all participants. Regardless of company size and IT capabilities - the portal ensures that participation in our network is easily accessible for every user. With the focus on user-friendliness, the portal integrates different Catena-X solutions on a suitable user interface. Participants of our network get a consolidated access to different services and business applications. In addition, we provide our users and providers with the necessary information and comprehensive support to best participate in the Catena-X network. Based on your specifications and information, the portal highlights the offers relevant to you and your business operations.

Participation in the Catena-X network takes place via a preliminary registration in the portal. The registration enables the initial creation of company accounts in the network and has to be completed once at the beginning. The registration consists of few steps and should not take more than 10 minutes. For a quick processing we recommend to have the company's commercial register ready or to assign a person authorized by the company with the registration. Depending on the information you provide, the offer and presentation within the portal will be regulated later on. This will enable access to all relevant applications and services for a participating company.

The initial registration is followed by the technical onboarding. This includes the optional configuration of the company's own Identity Provider (IdP). This secures and manages users' digital identities. As part of the technical onboarding, the company's own IdP can be connected to Catena-X. Participation in the Catena-X network requires the use of a connector. For this purpose, the portal offers a simple interface for registering and installing the Eclipse Dataspace Connector (EDC) developed in the network as well as the company's own connectors.

For companies already connected to existing industry networks, the registration for Catena-X can be simplified in the near future. Based on standardization and certification, we aim to develop and design a Network of Networks. This will realize participation in Catena-X and the use of data-driven solutions across network boundaries.

 

 

 

 

The Catena-X Marketplace - the meeting point for users and providers

After successful registration and connection to the network, members get access to the Catena-X Marketplace. Here, participants have a quick and transparent overview of the various offerings within the Catena-X network. Business applications as well as network-enabling services can be found here.

An overview of the individual functions and possibilities of the Catena-X Marketplace can be found in the following fold-out elements:

The App Marketplace provides a list of software applications from Catena-X approved service providers. In addition to a generic list, apps can also be displayed in pre-configured views.

Clicking on the app opens another page. This page contains all relevant information about the product, such as name, supported languages, and privacy information, as well as description and status of the subscription.

This function allows the user to highlight individual applications and to find them again quickly. For this purpose, the respective application can be added to the favorites with a simple mouse click or removed later.

Based on subscribed applications and stored user roles, the currently logged-in user is suggested which business applications can be actively used.

The use of an application requires communication between app provider and user. With a mouse click, interest in an offer can be expressed and the contact can be initiated.

User access management for apps. After an app provider grants subscription to the app, the subscribed app is displayed to the respective roles in the organization.

The offerings of the Catena-X Marketplace range from business-relevant applications to support a company's own business strategy to enabling services to participate in the Catena-X data ecosystem. For the latter, the Service Marketplace offers service providers a data space to provide offerings that enable access to the Catena-X infrastructure. This marketplace is primarily targeted at consulting firms and IT enabling and providing companies.

With the portal and the access to the marketplaces, Catena-X creates a joint foundation for every participant in the network. It is a matter close to our heart that every participant, regardless of his network role and company size, has access to the knowledge and offers of the Catena-X network. Our values are also to be implemented by the operating companies. For this reason, we are working on a standardized and user-friendly procedure for publishing applications and services within the various Catena-X marketplaces.

With the help of a supporting user interface and the presented standardized procedure, business applications and data space services are visualized, described and published in a uniform way. Therefore, the Catena-X standard offers the possibility to publish your offers in different marketplaces. The Catena-X reference implementation already includes these functions and thus offers a perfect start for the realization.

Further information will be added soon.

Last revision: 15-03-23

This is a work result of the
Catena-X Automotive Network Consortium Project,
supported by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action.
Funding code: 13IK004*

Julia  Jeroch

Julia Jeroch

Product Owner

Onboarding to the Data Ecosystem